Downtown residential development gaining momentum

By Valentino Lucio :
July 19, 2012
: Updated: August 17, 2012 10:57am

The City Council is expected to vote on a $5 million incentive package for the redevelopment of the former Big Tex site just south of the Blue Star Arts Complex. The Blue Star Phase II project will incorporate 320 residential units, retail space and the new home for the Blue Star Contemporary Arts Center.

The decade of downtown is well under way, and development in the city center is gaining momentum.

With about 7,000 residential units in the immediate downtown area, the goal is to more than double that number by 2020, said Ben Brewer, president of the Downtown Alliance.

Already, multiple projects are anticipated to come online in the next year. Much of the development is targeted around the northern fringes of downtown, along what is referred to as the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River.

At the Pearl Brewery, work has started on the Can Plant and Pearl Parkway projects, which are expected to bring the total number of residential units there to about 300.

The Mosaic is a mixed-use development under construction near the Pearl. Its plan is for 120 residential units online by the end of next year.

In August, residents started moving into the 1221 Broadway, which is aiming for a total of 300 residential units.

At the corner of Broadway and East Grayson Street is 1800 Broadway, which will offer 230 luxury apartments.

Plus, Hixon Properties Inc. is planning a 250-unit residential project along the river near the 1221 Broadway development.

But residential development also is moving south of downtown and along the Mission Reach portion of the river.

Already this year, the Cevallos lofts, a 250-unit apartment complex, has come online. And work has started on The Viceroy and the Steel House Lofts, which will add about 46 and 67 residential units, respectively.

Developers also are looking at projects along the river.

The Blue Star Phase II project recently was awarded about $5 million in city incentives for its mixed-use plan, which will bring 320 market-rate residential units. And Austin-based AquaLand Development LLC is close to inking a deal to redevelop the Lone Star Brewery, with plans for nearly 700 units there.

“We're excited about the level of activity,” Brewer said. “It's what we have been anticipating and promoting for some time.”